Airlines fee for “travelers” !
The Travel Promotion Act, which is supported by most in the tourism industry, is finding opposition from the airlines.
At stake is a $10 fee to be collected from international visitors. The surcharge is needed to fund a $200 million tourism promotion targeting overseas guests. The Travel Industry Association, whose members include Disney, are behind the legislation.
Since the airlines will impose the fee, they feel it will become another deterrent for air travel. Elizabeth Merida, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, stated “we feel strongly that that promotion should not be done at the expense of passengers.”
There are concerns within the airline industry that the fee, when combined with other measures needed to compensate for rising fuel costs, will impede air travel. The airlines are facing a $2.3 billion loss this year and are looking for tax relief.
Among those in support of the Travel Promotion Act are theme park, hotel, cruise line and car rental associations. Steven Hacker, president of the International Association of Exhibits and Events stated “It is extraordinarily frustrating to most of the other participants in the travel industry to continually bump into this idiotic, shortsighted point of view. I think it’s safe to say that the airline industry has been practicing stupid for so long, it seems natural to them.”
Both sides are well funded when it comes to lobbying Congress. Senator Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of the Travel Promotion Act while Senator John McCain does not feel the government should be funding tourism advertising.
